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ETC R6-7: Azerbaijan in sole lead after beating Bulgaria

PeterDoggers
| 0 | Chess Event Coverage

Azerbaijan is the sole leader at the European Team Championship in Halkidiki, Greece. On Wednesday the Azerbaijanis crushed Bulgaria 3.5-0.5. Vugar Gashimov seems fully recovered as he played both rounds 6 and 7. Russia is still struggling but Ukraine completely lost track and even lost to Switzerland.

With two rounds to go Azerbaijan is leading by a point at the 2011 European Team Championship

All photos © ChessDom

Event18th European Team Championship 2011 | Chess Results | PGN (Men) PGN (Women) via TWIC
DatesNovember 3rd-11th, 2011
LocationHalkidiki, Greece
System9-round Swiss Team Competition
PlayersTop 20 rated players are Aronian, Radjabov, Ivanchuk, Topalov, Karjakin, Morozevich, Gashimov, Svidler, Grischuk, Adams, Mamedyarov, Nepomniachtchi, Caruana, Navara, Ponomariov, Leko, Moiseenko, Bacrot, Giri and Naiditsch
Rate of play90 minutes for 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game plus 30 seconds increment starting from the first move

Two rounds ago Bulgaria was on a roll and Azerbaijan had other problems to worry about. After Wednesday the roles were reversed: in a direct confrontation the Azerbaijanis defeated the Bulgarians 3-1 to grab the lead - they have 12 match points. Two teams follow with 11 points: Armenia (yes, they fought themselves back up) and Germany (yes, back in a team competition and doing well).

Tuesday, round 6

On Tuesday tournament leader Bulgaria dropped a match point against France, who had enjoyed a semi-rest day in the previous round. Bacrot and Topalov drew a 5.Bf4 QGD - highly popular these days - and Fressinet and Delchev also split the point. Cheparinov profited from a big mistake by Vachier-Lagrave:

[Event "18th European Teams"]
[Site "Porto Carras GRE"]
[Date "2011.11.08"]
[Round "6.1"]
[White "Cheparinov, I."]
[Black "Vachier Lagrave, M."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B36"]
[WhiteElo "2650"]
[BlackElo "2710"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "1r3rk1/3bp2p/1p1p2p1/q7/P1P1P3/1PQ1B3/3KB1PP/R7 w - - 0 23"]
[PlyCount "30"]
[EventDate "2011.11.03"]

23... Bc6 $2 (23... Be6 24. b4 Qa8 {and with the queen attacking e4 White
can't immediately start pushing his pawns.}) 24. b4 Qa8 25. a5 $1 {Now this is
strong.} Bxe4 (25... bxa5 26. Bg4 $1 Rf6 27. Rxa5 Qb7 28. b5 Be8 29. Qd3) 26.
axb6 Qc6 27. Ra7 {This is impossible to defend.} e5 28. b5 Qe8 29. c5 $1 Qe6 (
29... dxc5 30. Qc4+) 30. c6 Bxg2 31. Qc4 Bd5 32. Qh4 h5 33. Qe7 Qxe7 34. Rxe7
Ra8 35. Ra7 Rxa7 36. bxa7 Kg7 37. Kc3 Kf6 38. Bd1 1-0

On board 4 the French were more succesful thanks to their fresh team member.

[Event "18th European Teams"]
[Site "Porto Carras GRE"]
[Date "2011.11.08"]
[Round "6.1"]
[White "Georgiev, Ki"]
[Black "Istratescu, A."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A40"]
[WhiteElo "2666"]
[BlackElo "2627"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "1r3k2/5p2/2n4p/2pn2p1/2N5/Pp1KPPP1/3B3P/1R6 w - - 0 28"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[EventDate "2011.11.03"]

28... Rd8 29. Ke2 Rb8 30. g4 $6 (30. Kd3 $11) 30... Nb6 $1 {Exchanging the
blockading knight gives Black the advantage.} 31. Nxb6 Rxb6 32. Bc3 c4 33. Rc1
Ne7 34. Bb2 Rc6 35. Bd4 Nd5 36. Kd2 Ke7 37. h3 Kd7 38. f4 gxf4 39. exf4 Nxf4
40. Rf1 Ne6 41. Bh8 Ng5 42. Kc1 c3 43. h4 Ne4 44. Rxf7+ Ke6 45. Rf8 Rb6 46. Rf1
Rb8 47. Bg7 Rg8 48. Re1 Kd5 49. Rd1+ Kc5 50. Rd7 b2+ 51. Kc2 Nd2 52. Rxd2 b1=Q+
53. Kxb1 cxd2 0-1

Good spirits at the start of France-Bulgaria

This result allowed Azerbaijan and Romania (!) to catch the Bulgarians in the standings. The Azerbaijanis profited from a yet again struggling Russian team. On board one Svidler had a small plus against Radjabov but at some point it went terribly wrong. Because the other three games ended in draws, this game decided everything.

[Event "18th European Teams"]
[Site "Porto Carras GRE"]
[Date "2011.11.08"]
[Round "6.3"]
[White "Svidler, P."]
[Black "Radjabov, T."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D31"]
[WhiteElo "2755"]
[BlackElo "2781"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "2r1b3/4n1kp/1p1q2p1/p1rpNp2/5P2/Q1RBP2P/PP3KP1/2R5 w - - 0 37"]
[PlyCount "34"]
[EventDate "2011.11.03"]

{White should never lose this.} 37. Ba6 d4 $5 {Trying to complicate matters...}
38. Rd1 $2 {...and it works.} ({White should play} 38. Rc4 $1 dxe3+ 39. Qxe3 {
with still a small advantage.}) 38... dxe3+ 39. Ke1 Qf6 40. Rxe3 R8c7 {The
tables have turned and White is in trouble.} 41. Nd3 Rc2 42. Rd2 $6 (42. Kf1 {
was a better try.}) 42... Rxd2 43. Kxd2 Bf7 $1 {Black activates his worst
piece.} 44. Qa4 Bd5 45. g4 Be4 46. Rxe4 fxe4 47. Qxe4 Rd7 48. Ke3 Nc6 49. g5
Qd6 50. Qc4 Re7+ 51. Kf2 Nd4 52. Ne5 Rc7 53. Qd3 Rc2+ 0-1

The top match between Russia and Azerbaijan

Romania is doing surprisingly well, especially taking into account that they're playing without Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu and Andrei Istratescu. In this round Parligras was match winner:

[Event "18th European Teams"]
[Site "Porto Carras GRE"]
[Date "2011.11.08"]
[Round "6.2"]
[White "Parligras, M."]
[Black "Mastrovasilis, D."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B13"]
[WhiteElo "2650"]
[BlackElo "2621"]
[PlyCount "143"]
[EventDate "2011.11.03"]

1. c4 c6 2. e4 d5 3. exd5 Nf6 4. d4 cxd5 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 dxc4 7. Bxc4 h6 8.
Bh4 Qxd4 9. Qxd4 Nxd4 10. O-O-O e5 11. f4 Bg4 12. Nf3 Bxf3 13. gxf3 Rc8 14. Bf1
Nd5 15. fxe5 Nxc3 16. bxc3 Ba3+ 17. Kb1 Nxf3 18. Bh3 Ra8 19. Bd7+ Kf8 20. Bg3
Ng5 21. e6 Nxe6 22. Bxe6 fxe6 23. Rd7 Kg8 24. Rxb7 Rh7 25. Re1 g5 26. Rxh7 Kxh7
27. Rxe6 Rf8 28. Kc2 h5 29. Kb3 Bc1 30. c4 h4 31. Bd6 Rf3+ 32. Kc2 Ba3 33. c5
Rf5 34. Kd3 Kg7 35. Ke4 Rf2 36. Re7+ Kf6 37. Rxa7 Bb4 38. a3 Bxc5 39. Bxc5 Rxh2
40. Ra6+ Kf7 41. Kf5 Ke8 42. Bd6 Re2 43. Ra7 h3 44. Rh7 h2 45. Bxh2 Re7 46. Rh3
Kd7 47. Rc3 Re8 48. Kxg5 Rc8 49. Rb3 Kc6 50. Kf5 Rd8 51. Ke4 Rd5 52. Bg1 Rb5
53. Rc3+ Kb7 54. Bc5 Kc6 55. Kd4 Rb1 56. Kc4 Rh1 57. Bd4 Rb1 58. a4 Kb7 59. Rh3
Rc1+ 60. Bc3 Rg1 61. Rh7+ Ka8 62. Bd4 Rc1+ 63. Kb5 Rb1+ 64. Kc6 Rb7 65. Bg7 Ka7
66. Bd4+ Ka8 67. Rh5 Rc7+ 68. Kb5 Rb7+ 69. Bb6 Rb8 70. Kc6 Rb7 71. Rg5 Rc7+ 72.
Bxc7 1-0

Armenia defeated Spain but needed some luck. Levon Aronian played a piece sac against Vallejo that looked very suspicious, but he got away with a draw. Sargissian claimed the two match points with his win:

[Event "18th European Teams"]
[Site "Porto Carras GRE"]
[Date "2011.11.08"]
[Round "6.4"]
[White "Arizmendi Martinez, J."]
[Black "Sargissian, G."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D31"]
[WhiteElo "2568"]
[BlackElo "2671"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "6k1/pp4bp/8/1N3P2/2pr2P1/1P1p3P/P7/4R1K1 w - - 0 31"]
[PlyCount "11"]
[EventDate "2011.11.03"]

31... a6 $1 32. Nc3 (32. Nxd4 Bxd4+ 33. Kf1 c3) 32... d2 33. Re8+ Kf7 34. Rc8
Rxg4+ 35. hxg4 Bxc3 36. Rd8 Ba5 (36... Bd4+ 37. Rxd4 c3 {would have been nice
as well.}) 0-1

Armenia vs Spain with Aronian-Vallejo on board 1

Georg Meier decided the match Germany-Italy, providing a splendid training example of the bishop pair.

[Event "18th European Teams"]
[Site "Porto Carras GRE"]
[Date "2011.11.08"]
[Round "6.5"]
[White "Meier, Geo"]
[Black "Caruana, F."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A04"]
[WhiteElo "2659"]
[BlackElo "2727"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "4k3/pp3pp1/2n1r2p/3R3P/5B2/b1P3P1/P3BP2/5K2 w - - 0 23"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2011.11.03"]

23. Bg4 Re7 24. Bc8 b6 25. Ba6 Bc5 26. Bb5 Re6 27. Bc7 Ke7 28. f4 g6 29. g4 Kf8
30. f5 Rf6 31. Bg3 gxf5 32. gxf5 Kg7 33. Bh4 Ne7 34. Bxf6+ Kxf6 35. Rd7 a5 36.
Bc4 Nxf5 37. Bxf7 Ng3+ 38. Kg2 Ne4 39. Be8 Ke5 40. Rd3 Kf4 41. Bg6 Nd6 42. Kf1
Nc8 43. Ke2 Ne7 44. Kd2 Kg5 45. Be8 Nf5 46. Rf3 Kg4 47. Rf1 Ng7 48. Bf7 Kg5 49.
Re1 Nf5 50. Bg6 Nd6 51. Rf1 Nc4+ 52. Kd3 Nd6 53. Rf8 Kg4 54. Rf6 Kg5 55. Re6
Kh4 56. Kc2 Kg5 57. Kb3 Nb5 58. Re5+ Kf4 59. Rxc5 bxc5 60. Kc4 Na3+ 61. Kxc5
Ke3 62. c4 Kd2 63. Kd4 1-0

The Dutch team won 2.5-1.5 against Poland thanks to a black win for Van Wely against Socko. Both Ukraine-Israel and England-Czech Republic ended in 2-2.

Wednesday, round 7

The Bulgarian party is over, at least for the moment. The score 0.5-3.5 left no doubts about their match with Azerbaijan, who again included Gashimov in their line-up, so we can safely say that he recovered well. In fact he defeated an in-form Cheparinov, who went for the brilliancy prize but got a zero instead:

[Event "18th European Teams"]
[Site "Porto Carras GRE"]
[Date "2011.11.09"]
[Round "7.2"]
[White "Gashimov, Vugar"]
[Black "Cheparinov, Ivan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B23"]
[WhiteElo "2757"]
[BlackElo "2650"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "5rk1/ppqbppbp/3p1np1/2r5/3pPP1Q/3P1N2/PPP3PP/R1BB1RK1 w - - 0 16"]
[PlyCount "44"]
[EventDate "2011.11.03"]
[WhiteTeam "Azerbaidjan"]
[BlackTeam "Bulgaria"]
[BlackTeamCountry "BUL"]

16... Rxc2 $5 17. Bxc2 Qxc2 18. Ne1 Qd1 {An interesting exchange sacrifice.}
19. b3 Ng4 ({Something quiet like} 19... Rc8 20. Bb2 Qd2 21. Qf2 Qxf2+ 22. Rxf2
Ng4 23. Re2 e5 {might be better but Cheparinov was in a creative mood.}) 20.
Qxe7 Bc6 21. h3 Re8 (21... Ne3 22. Bb2 $1 Qd2 (22... Qh5 23. Rf3) 23. Rf2 Qb4
24. Rc1) 22. Qxd6 Bf8 23. Qxd4 Rxe4 {It looks brillant, but White has the
simple} 24. Bb2 Rxd4 25. Rxd1 {and now even} Bc5 {doesn't help Black:} 26. Bxd4
Bxd4+ 27. Kh1 Ne3 28. Nf3 Bxf3 29. gxf3 Kg7 30. Rfe1 Nxd1 31. Rxd1 Bc5 32. Rc1
b6 33. Rc4 Kf6 34. b4 Bd6 35. b5 Ke6 36. Kg2 Kd5 37. Kf1 f5 38. Ke2 1-0

Azerbaijan put an end to Bulgaria's success

The Germany-Romania was decided by, well, Levente Vajda's wandering king!

[Event "18th European Teams"]
[Site "Porto Carras GRE"]
[Date "2011.11.09"]
[Round "7.3"]
[White "Vajda, Levente"]
[Black "Fridman, Daniel"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C11"]
[WhiteElo "2584"]
[BlackElo "2661"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r1b1kb1r/p2n1ppp/1pn1p3/q1ppP3/N2P1P2/2P1BN2/PP4PP/R2QKB1R w KQkq - 0 10"]
[PlyCount "50"]
[EventDate "2011.11.03"]
[WhiteTeam "Romania"]
[BlackTeam "Germany"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "ROU"]
[BlackTeamCountry "GER"]

10. Kf2 $5 {In hindsight you could say that the trouble starts here.} Ba6 11.
dxc5 $6 (11. b4 $1 cxb4 12. cxb4 Nxb4 (12... Bxb4 13. a3 $1) 13. a3 Nd3+ 14.
Bxd3 Bxd3 15. Qxd3 Qxa4 16. Rhc1 Be7 $11) 11... Bxf1 $1 {Zwischenzug no. 1.}
12. b4 $5 {Zwischenzug no. 2.} (12. Rxf1 b5 {was the problem.}) 12... Be2 $1 {
Zwischenzug no. 3!} (12... Qb5 13. Rxf1 bxc5 14. a3 {is the same position as
in the game but with the white rook already on f1.}) 13. Kxe2 Qb5+ 14. Kf2 bxc5
15. a3 a5 16. bxc5 Nxc5 17. Bxc5 Bxc5+ 18. Kg3 {Will it be safe here?} Ba7 19.
Rb1 Qc4 20. Qb3 $2 Qe4 $1 {Now the king on g3 is the decisive factor: White is
lost.} 21. Qb7 O-O 22. Qxc6 Be3 23. Kh3 Qxf4 24. Rhf1 Qh6+ 25. Kg3 Rac8 26. Qd7
Rc4 27. h4 Qf4+ 28. Kh3 Qg4+ 29. Kh2 Rxa4 30. g3 Rxa3 31. Ng5 Ra2+ 32. Kh1 Rf2
33. Rxf2 Bxf2 34. Qd6 Qxg3 0-1

Armenia continued its comeback with a 2.5-1.5 win against France: three draws and a win for Movsesian against the Frenchman with two names, and now also two consecutive losses. Perhaps Maxime was asking for trouble, playing the Scheveningen against one of the biggest experts of this opening?

[Event "18th European Teams"]
[Site "Porto Carras GRE"]
[Date "2011.11.09"]
[Round "7.2"]
[White "Movsesian, Sergei"]
[Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B84"]
[WhiteElo "2710"]
[BlackElo "2710"]
[PlyCount "123"]
[EventDate "2011.11.03"]
[WhiteTeam "Armenia"]
[BlackTeam "France"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "ARM"]
[BlackTeamCountry "FRA"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e6 7. O-O Be7 8. f4
Qc7 9. a4 Nc6 10. Be3 O-O 11. Kh1 Re8 12. Bf3 Rb8 13. Qd2 Bd7 14. Nb3 b6 15.
Bf2 Red8 16. Qe2 Bc8 17. Qc4 Bb7 18. f5 d5 19. exd5 exd5 20. Nxd5 Nxd5 21. Bxd5
b5 22. axb5 axb5 23. Qe4 Nb4 24. Bxb7 Qxb7 25. Qg4 Nd5 26. Rad1 Rbc8 27. Qe4
Rc4 28. Rd4 Rxd4 29. Bxd4 Qc7 30. Re1 h6 31. c3 Bf6 32. Bg1 Ne7 33. Qf3 Qc8 34.
Bd4 Nd5 35. Bc5 Kh7 36. h3 Rd7 37. Bf2 Be7 38. Rd1 Nf6 39. Rxd7 Qxd7 40. Bd4
Nd5 41. Qd3 Kg8 42. Qe4 Bf6 43. Nc5 Qd8 44. Bf2 Ne7 45. Nd3 Qd7 46. g4 h5 47.
Kg1 hxg4 48. hxg4 g6 49. fxg6 Nxg6 50. Kf1 Bg7 51. Ke2 Ne7 52. Nb4 f5 53. gxf5
Nxf5 54. Qa8+ Kf7 55. Qf3 Bh6 56. Nd5 Bg5 57. Be3 Ke6 58. Nb6 Qd8 59. Qe4+ Kf6
60. Nd5+ Kg6 61. Qe6+ Bf6 62. Bd4 1-0

France-Armenia

Hungary was too strong for Slovenia: 3-1. We just have to include board 4 of this match, because the similarity with coffeehouse chess was striking:

[Event "18th European Teams"]
[Site "Porto Carras GRE"]
[Date "2011.11.09"]
[Round "7.4"]
[White "Sebenik, Matej"]
[Black "Balogh, Csaba"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A09"]
[WhiteElo "2518"]
[BlackElo "2662"]
[PlyCount "114"]
[EventDate "2011.11.03"]
[WhiteTeam "Slovenia"]
[BlackTeam "Hungary"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "SLO"]
[BlackTeamCountry "HUN"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 d4 3. e3 Nc6 4. exd4 Nxd4 5. Nxd4 Qxd4 6. Nc3 c6 7. Be2 Nh6 8.
d3 Nf5 9. g4 Nh4 10. Rg1 h5 11. h3 Qe5 12. Be3 Qh2 13. Kd2 Ng2 14. Rh1 Qc7 15.
gxh5 Bf5 16. Qg1 Nf4 17. Qg5 Nxe2 18. Qxf5 e6 19. Qf3 Nxc3 20. bxc3 Rd8 21. Kc2
Qa5 22. Rhb1 Rd7 23. h6 g6 24. Rb3 Bxh6 25. Bd4 Rh7 26. Kb2 Bg7 27. Bxg7 Rxg7
28. Qg3 Qc7 29. Qh4 Rg8 30. Qh7 Rf8 31. Re1 Qf4 32. Re2 Qf6 33. Qh6 Rxd3 34.
Rd2 Rxd2+ 35. Qxd2 b6 36. c5 b5 37. Qd6 Rh8 38. Ra3 Rxh3 39. Qxc6+ Kf8 40. Qxb5
Qxf2+ 41. Kb3 Rh5 42. Rxa7 Rxc5 43. Ra8+ Kg7 44. Qe8 Kh6 45. Ra4 Rd5 46. Rd4
Rxd4 47. Qh8+ Kg5 48. cxd4 Qe3+ 49. Kb4 Qd2+ 50. Kb3 Qd1+ 51. Kb2 Qe2+ 52. Kb3
Qb5+ 53. Kc3 Qa5+ 54. Kb3 Qb5+ 55. Kc3 f5 56. Qf8 Qa5+ 57. Kb3 Qd5+ 0-1

The Dutch team also still has chances to win a medal - after another victory, against Greece, they're in shared 4th place. Anish Giri, who again played 1.e4, scored his second win in the tournament (he drew his other five games) and a nice one:

[Event "18th European Teams"]
[Site "Porto Carras GRE"]
[Date "2011.11.09"]
[Round "7.1"]
[White "Giri, Anish"]
[Black "Banikas, Hristos"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B46"]
[WhiteElo "2714"]
[BlackElo "2620"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2011.11.03"]
[WhiteTeam "Netherlands"]
[BlackTeam "Greece"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "NED"]
[BlackTeamCountry "GRE"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Qf3 Bd6 8.
Qg4 g6 9. f4 Bb4 10. e5 d5 11. exd6 Nf6 12. Qf3 O-O 13. Bd2 Bxd6 14. O-O-O Rb8
15. Bc4 Qc7 16. Rhf1 Qb7 17. b3 Bb4 18. g4 c5 19. Qe2 Bd7 20. f5 exf5 21. gxf5
Kg7 22. fxg6 Rbe8 23. Bh6+ Kxh6 24. Qd2+ Kxg6 25. Rxf6+ Kxf6 26. Nd5+ Qxd5 27.
Qxd5 Be6 28. Qf3+ Ke7 29. Bxe6 fxe6 30. Qb7+ Kf6 31. Rf1+ Kg6 32. Qg2+ Kh5 33.
Rg1 Rg8 34. Qh3# 1-0

We'll finish with what was the biggest upset in the tournament: Ukraine losing to Switzerland (who didn't play with Korchnoi this round). It's hard to believe these scores! But congratulations to the Swiss for this great result.

Bo.26SwitzerlandRtg-2UkraineRtg3 : 1
8.1GMPelletier Yannick2581-GMIvanchuk Vassily2775½ - ½
8.2GMGallagher Joseph G2500-GMPonomariov Ruslan2723½ - ½
8.3IMKurmann Oliver2451-GMEljanov Pavel26911 - 0
8.4IMForster Richard2458-GMEfimenko Zahar27021 - 0

Efimenko reached a winning position but then missed a devilish combination:

[Event "18th European Teams"]
[Site "Porto Carras GRE"]
[Date "2011.11.09"]
[Round "7.4"]
[White "Efimenko, Zahar"]
[Black "Forster, Richard"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B76"]
[WhiteElo "2702"]
[BlackElo "2458"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "3r2k1/2rP1p1p/1p4p1/pB1Q4/P4q2/4p3/1PPN3P/1K1R4 w - - 0 27"]
[PlyCount "34"]
[EventDate "2011.11.03"]
[WhiteTeam "Ukraine"]
[BlackTeam "Switzerland"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "UKR"]
[BlackTeamCountry "SUI"]

27. Rf1 $2 (27. Ne4 $18) 27... Rcxd7 $3 28. Bxd7 Qxf1+ $1 29. Nxf1 e2 30. Qb5
e1=Q+ 31. Ka2 Qf2 32. c3 h5 33. Ng3 Qxh2 34. Ne4 Qf4 (34... Kg7 $1 {followed
by 35...Qc7 was more or less winning.}) 35. Bc6 h4 36. Qxb6 Rd1 37. Qxa5 h3 38.
Qa8+ $2 (38. Qg5 Qxg5 39. Nxg5 h2 40. a5 {will lead to a draw.}) 38... Kg7 39.
Qa7 $6 (39. Nc5 {was the last chance.}) 39... h2 40. Qf2 Qc7 41. Ng5 Qxc6 42.
Qxf7+ Kh6 43. Qf4 Ra1+ 0-1

An excellent result for the Swiss

In the women's section Russia is close to winning the gold medal. They're leading with two match points ahead of Poland. With one point less, Ukraine, Georgia and France follow.

Games top boards round 6 (Open)

PGN file

Games top boards round 6 (Women)

PGN file

Games top boards round 7 (Open)

PGN file

Games top boards round 7 (Women)

PGN file

Round 6 results

 

Bo.6FranceRtg-7BulgariaRtg2 : 2
1.1GMBacrot Etienne2714-GMTopalov Veselin2768½ - ½
1.2GMVachier-Lagrave Maxime2710-GMCheparinov Ivan26500 - 1
1.3GMFressinet Laurent2700-GMDelchev Aleksander2629½ - ½
1.4GMIstratescu Andrei2627-GMGeorgiev Kiril26661 - 0
Bo.19GreeceRtg-17RomaniaRtg1½:2½
2.1GMBanikas Hristos2620-GMLupulescu Constantin2657½ - ½
2.2GMMastrovasilis Dimitrios2621-GMParligras Mircea-Emilian26500 - 1
2.3GMPapaioannou Ioannis2600-GMVajda Levente2584½ - ½
2.4GMHalkias Stelios2593-GMMarin Mihail2534½ - ½
Bo.1RussiaRtg-3AzerbaijanRtg1½:2½
3.1GMSvidler Peter2755-GMRadjabov Teimour27810 - 1
3.2GMGrischuk Alexander2752-GMGashimov Vugar2757½ - ½
3.3GMKarjakin Sergey2763-GMMamedyarov Shakhriyar2733½ - ½
3.4GMNepomniachtchi Ian2730-GMGuseinov Gadir2636½ - ½
Bo.4ArmeniaRtg-13SpainRtg2½:1½
4.1GMAronian Levon2802-GMVallejo Pons Francisco2705½ - ½
4.2GMMovsesian Sergei2710-GMSalgado Lopez Ivan2621½ - ½
4.3GMAkopian Vladimir2681-GMIllescas Cordoba Miguel2609½ - ½
4.4GMSargissian Gabriel2671-GMArizmendi Martinez Julen Luis25681 - 0
Bo.10GermanyRtg-22ItalyRtg3 : 1
5.1GMMeier Georg2659-GMCaruana Fabiano27271 - 0
5.2GMFridman Daniel2661-IMDvirnyy Daniyyl2475½ - ½
5.3GMGustafsson Jan2633-GMBrunello Sabino2575½ - ½
5.4GMBuhmann Rainer2612-IMRombaldoni Axel24591 - 0
Bo.9NetherlandsRtg-14PolandRtg2½:1½
6.1GMGiri Anish2714-GMWojtaszek Radoslaw2705½ - ½
6.2GMVan Wely Loek2686-GMSocko Bartosz26351 - 0
6.3GMSokolov Ivan2646-GMBartel Mateusz2653½ - ½
6.4GMStellwagen Daniel2627-GMMiton Kamil2622½ - ½
Bo.21SloveniaRtg-15GeorgiaRtg2½:1½
7.1GMBeliavsky Alexander G2617-GMJobava Baadur2678½ - ½
7.2GMLenic Luka2634-GMPantsulaia Levan25881 - 0
7.3GMBorisek Jure2541-GMMchedlishvili Mikheil2636½ - ½
7.4IMSebenik Matej2518- Zarkua Davit2443½ - ½
Bo.27LatviaRtg-5HungaryRtg1½:2½
8.1GMMiezis Normunds2547-GMLeko Peter2720½ - ½
8.2GMSveshnikov Evgeny2514-GMAlmasi Zoltan27070 - 1
8.3IMNeiksans Arturs2502-GMBerkes Ferenc27051 - 0
8.4GMStarostits Ilmars2456-GMBalogh Csaba26620 - 1
Bo.2UkraineRtg-11IsraelRtg2 : 2
9.1GMIvanchuk Vassily2775-GMRodshtein Maxim2645½ - ½
9.2GMPonomariov Ruslan2723-GMSutovsky Emil2696½ - ½
9.3GMEljanov Pavel2691-GMSmirin Ilia26701 - 0
9.4GMMoiseenko Alexander2715-GMPostny Evgeny26400 - 1
Bo.12Czech Rep.Rtg-8EnglandRtg2 : 2
10.1GMNavara David2724-GMAdams Michael27340 - 1
10.2GMLaznicka Viktor2703-GMShort Nigel D26981 - 0
10.3GMHracek Zbynek2628-GMJones Gawain C B2635½ - ½
10.4GMStocek Jiri2600-GMPert Nicholas2563½ - ½
Bo.16CroatiaRtg-26SwitzerlandRtg2 : 2
11.1GMStevic Hrvoje2612-GMPelletier Yannick2581½ - ½
11.2GMSaric Ivan2648-GMKorchnoi Viktor25671 - 0
11.3GMBrkic Ante2605-IMKurmann Oliver24510 - 1
11.4GMJovanovic Zoran2581-IMForster Richard2458½ - ½
Bo.20MoldovaRtg-24DenmarkRtg3 : 1
12.1GMBologan Viktor2665-GMHansen Sune Berg25661 - 0
12.2GMIordachescu Viorel2648-GMRasmussen Allan Stig25411 - 0
12.3GMSvetushkin Dmitry2621-GMAagaard Jacob2522½ - ½
12.4IMHamitevici Vladimir2428-IMGlud Jakob Vang2497½ - ½
Bo.23AustriaRtg-29MontenegroRtg2 : 2
13.1GMRagger Markus2662-GMDjukic Nikola24931 - 0
13.2GMShengelia David2551-GMBlagojevic Dragisa2514½ - ½
13.3IMKreisl Robert2415-GMDrasko Milan2478½ - ½
13.4IMNeubauer Martin2431-GMKosic Dragan25020 - 1
Bo.30FYROMRtg-32IcelandRtg1½:2½
14.1GMGeorgiev Vladimir2553-GMDanielsen Henrik25420 - 1
14.2GMNedev Trajko2493-FMGretarsson Hjorvar Steinn24520 - 1
14.3IMPancevski Filip2442-IMThorfinnsson Bragi24211 - 0
14.4GMStanojoski Zvonko2470-IMThorfinnsson Bjorn2402½ - ½
Bo.18SerbiaRtg-33LithuaniaRtg3 : 1
15.1GMIvanisevic Ivan2636-GMSulskis Sarunas25771 - 0
15.2GMSolak Dragan2629-IMZagorskis Darius24970 - 1
15.3GMDamljanovic Branko2597-IMLabeckas Kestutis24101 - 0
15.4GMPerunovic Milos2576- Klabis Rokas21001 - 0
Bo.31NorwayRtg-28FinlandRtg3 : 1
16.1GMLie Kjetil A2560-GMNyback Tomi26310 - 1
16.2IMElsness Frode2506-IMAgopov Mikael24501 - 0
16.3GMJohannessen Leif Erlend2515-IMKarttunen Mika24341 - 0
16.4IMGetz Nicolai2369-IMNyysti Sampsa23451 - 0
Bo.37LuxembourgRtg-25SwedenRtg1 : 3
17.1IMBerend Fred2381-GMTikkanen Hans25860 - 1
17.2 Schartz Alain2160-GMGrandelius Nils2543½ - ½
17.3FMMossong Hubert2119-IMSemcesen Daniel2490½ - ½
17.4WIMSteil-Antoni Fiona2104-GMBrynell Stellan24860 - 1
Bo.38CyprusRtg-34TurkeyRtg1 : 3
18.1 Bryan-Vissi Mark1808-IMYilmaz Mustafa25150 - 1
18.2 Aristotelous Vassilis1921-GMCan Emre24650 - 1
18.3 Boulos Vrachimis0-FMAli Marandi Cemil Can22750 - 1
18.4 Constantinou Pavlos2068-CMSanal Vahap22751 - 0
Bo.36WalesRtg-35ScotlandRtg½ :3½
19.1FMWilliams A Howard2353-FMMorrison Graham23390 - 1
19.2CMJones Iolo C2282-IMMuir Andrew J23110 - 1
19.3 Kett Tim2184-CMRoberts Paul2222½ - ½
19.4 Pleasants Allan J2089- Mitchell Martin22150 - 1

 

Round 7 results

Bo.7BulgariaRtg-3AzerbaijanRtg½ :3½
1.1GMTopalov Veselin2768-GMRadjabov Teimour2781½ - ½
1.2GMCheparinov Ivan2650-GMGashimov Vugar27570 - 1
1.3GMDelchev Aleksander2629-GMMamedyarov Shakhriyar27330 - 1
1.4GMRadulski Julian2565-GMSafarli Eltaj26300 - 1
Bo.17RomaniaRtg-10GermanyRtg1½:2½
2.1GMLupulescu Constantin2657-GMNaiditsch Arkadij2712½ - ½
2.2GMParligras Mircea-Emilian2650-GMMeier Georg2659½ - ½
2.3GMVajda Levente2584-GMFridman Daniel26610 - 1
2.4GMMarin Mihail2534-GMBuhmann Rainer2612½ - ½
Bo.6FranceRtg-4ArmeniaRtg1½:2½
3.1GMBacrot Etienne2714-GMAronian Levon2802½ - ½
3.2GMVachier-Lagrave Maxime2710-GMMovsesian Sergei27100 - 1
3.3GMFressinet Laurent2700-GMAkopian Vladimir2681½ - ½
3.4GMBauer Christian2641-GMSargissian Gabriel2671½ - ½
Bo.5HungaryRtg-21SloveniaRtg3 : 1
4.1GMLeko Peter2720-GMBeliavsky Alexander G2617½ - ½
4.2GMAlmasi Zoltan2707-GMLenic Luka2634½ - ½
4.3GMBerkes Ferenc2705-GMBorisek Jure25411 - 0
4.4GMBalogh Csaba2662-IMSebenik Matej25181 - 0
Bo.9NetherlandsRtg-19GreeceRtg2½:1½
5.1GMGiri Anish2714-GMBanikas Hristos26201 - 0
5.2GMVan Wely Loek2686-GMMastrovasilis Dimitrios2621½ - ½
5.3GMSokolov Ivan2646-GMPapaioannou Ioannis26001 - 0
5.4GMSmeets Jan2615-GMNikolaidis Ioannis25540 - 1
Bo.13SpainRtg-1RussiaRtg1 : 3
6.1GMVallejo Pons Francisco2705-GMSvidler Peter2755½ - ½
6.2GMShirov Alexei2705-GMGrischuk Alexander2752½ - ½
6.3GMSalgado Lopez Ivan2621-GMKarjakin Sergey27630 - 1
6.4GMIllescas Cordoba Miguel2609-GMMorozevich Alexander27620 - 1
Bo.22ItalyRtg-20MoldovaRtg2½:1½
7.1GMCaruana Fabiano2727-GMBologan Viktor2665½ - ½
7.2GMGodena Michele2548-GMIordachescu Viorel2648½ - ½
7.3GMBrunello Sabino2575-GMSvetushkin Dmitry26211 - 0
7.4IMRombaldoni Axel2459-IMVedmediuc Serghei2465½ - ½
Bo.26SwitzerlandRtg-2UkraineRtg3 : 1
8.1GMPelletier Yannick2581-GMIvanchuk Vassily2775½ - ½
8.2GMGallagher Joseph G2500-GMPonomariov Ruslan2723½ - ½
8.3IMKurmann Oliver2451-GMEljanov Pavel26911 - 0
8.4IMForster Richard2458-GMEfimenko Zahar27021 - 0
Bo.14PolandRtg-8EnglandRtg3 : 1
9.1GMWojtaszek Radoslaw2705-GMAdams Michael2734½ - ½
9.2GMSocko Bartosz2635-GMHowell David W L26331 - 0
9.3GMBartel Mateusz2653-GMJones Gawain C B2635½ - ½
9.4GMMiton Kamil2622-GMPert Nicholas25631 - 0
Bo.11IsraelRtg-12Czech Rep.Rtg1½:2½
10.1GMRodshtein Maxim2645-GMNavara David27240 - 1
10.2GMRoiz Michael2651-GMLaznicka Viktor2703½ - ½
10.3GMSmirin Ilia2670-GMHracek Zbynek2628½ - ½
10.4GMPostny Evgeny2640-GMStocek Jiri2600½ - ½
Bo.15GeorgiaRtg-16CroatiaRtg2 : 2
11.1GMJobava Baadur2678-GMStevic Hrvoje26121 - 0
11.2GMMchedlishvili Mikheil2636-GMSaric Ivan26480 - 1
11.3GMGagunashvili Merab2577-GMPalac Mladen2580½ - ½
11.4 Zarkua Davit2443-GMJovanovic Zoran2581½ - ½
Bo.32IcelandRtg-18SerbiaRtg1½:2½
12.1GMDanielsen Henrik2542-GMIvanisevic Ivan2636½ - ½
12.2FMGretarsson Hjorvar Steinn2452-GMSolak Dragan26290 - 1
12.3IMThorfinnsson Bragi2421-GMDamljanovic Branko25971 - 0
12.4IMThorfinnsson Bjorn2402-GMPerunovic Milos25760 - 1
Bo.24DenmarkRtg-23AustriaRtg2 : 2
13.1GMHansen Sune Berg2566-GMRagger Markus2662½ - ½
13.2GMRasmussen Allan Stig2541-GMKindermann Stefan2519½ - ½
13.3GMAagaard Jacob2522-GMShengelia David25510 - 1
13.4IMGlud Jakob Vang2497-IMNeubauer Martin24311 - 0
Bo.29MontenegroRtg-31NorwayRtg3 : 1
14.1GMDjukic Nikola2493-GMLie Kjetil A2560½ - ½
14.2GMDrasko Milan2478-IMElsness Frode25061 - 0
14.3GMKosic Dragan2502-GMJohannessen Leif Erlend25151 - 0
14.4IMKalezic Blazo2461-IMGetz Nicolai2369½ - ½
Bo.25SwedenRtg-34TurkeyRtg2½:1½
15.1GMTikkanen Hans2586-IMYilmaz Mustafa25151 - 0
15.2GMGrandelius Nils2543-GMCan Emre2465½ - ½
15.3GMCarlsson Pontus2502-IMFirat Burak2393½ - ½
15.4IMSemcesen Daniel2490-FMAli Marandi Cemil Can2275½ - ½
Bo.30FYROMRtg-27LatviaRtg1 : 3
16.1GMGeorgiev Vladimir2553-GMMiezis Normunds2547½ - ½
16.2IMColovic Aleksandar2451-GMSveshnikov Evgeny2514½ - ½
16.3IMPancevski Filip2442-IMNeiksans Arturs25020 - 1
16.4GMStanojoski Zvonko2470-GMStarostits Ilmars24560 - 1
Bo.33LithuaniaRtg-35ScotlandRtg3 : 1
17.1GMSulskis Sarunas2577-FMTate Alan23341 - 0
17.2IMZagorskis Darius2497-FMMorrison Graham23391 - 0
17.3IMLabeckas Kestutis2410-IMMuir Andrew J2311½ - ½
17.4 Klabis Rokas2100-CMRoberts Paul2222½ - ½
Bo.28FinlandRtg-38CyprusRtg4 : 0
18.1GMNyback Tomi2631- Bryan-Vissi Mark18081 - 0
18.2IMSammalvuo Tapani2492- Aristotelous Vassilis19211 - 0
18.3IMKarttunen Mika2434- Boulos Vrachimis01 - 0
18.4IMNyysti Sampsa2345- Constantinou Pavlos20681 - 0
Bo.36WalesRtg-37LuxembourgRtg2 : 2
19.1FMWilliams A Howard2353-IMBerend Fred23811 - 0
19.2CMJones Iolo C2282- Jeitz Christian2171½ - ½
19.3 Kett Tim2184- Schartz Alain2160½ - ½
19.4 Young Alan2042-FMMossong Hubert21190 - 1

Round 7 results women's section can be found here

 

PeterDoggers
Peter Doggers

Peter Doggers joined a chess club a month before turning 15 and still plays for it. He used to be an active tournament player and holds two IM norms. Peter has a Master of Arts degree in Dutch Language & Literature. He briefly worked at New in Chess, then as a Dutch teacher and then in a project for improving safety and security in Amsterdam schools. Between 2007 and 2013 Peter was running ChessVibes, a major source for chess news and videos acquired by Chess.com in October 2013. As our Director News & Events, Peter writes many of our news reports. In the summer of 2022, The Guardian’s Leonard Barden described him as “widely regarded as the world’s best chess journalist.”

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